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Saturday, May 21, 2011

DOROTHY BIRD (LORD) 1588-1676

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of William Elmer, son of John Elmer, son of Mary Kibbe (Elmer), daughter of Daniel Kibbe, son of Hannah Kelsey (Kibbe), daughter of Hannah Ingersol (Kelsey), daughter of Dorothy Lord (Ingersol) daughter of Dorothy Bird (Lord).]

Birth: 1588, EnglandDeath: August 2, 1676, Hartford County, Connecticut, USAShe was born in Towcester, Northampton, England, and baptized at St. Lawrence Church, May 25, 1588. She left England with her husband, Thomas Lord, and most of their children, April 1635. They settled in Hartford, Connecticut, by 1639.Burial: Merriman Burying Ground, Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut, USAFind A Grave Memorial# 5125280

found on findagrave.com

"Dorothy his wife born 1588 died 1676"

Immigration/Founding of ConnecticutThomas and Dorothy Bird Lord along with their seven children sailed from London to Boston on the ship "Elizabeth and Ann" on 29 April 1635. They lived in Boston/Cambridge for about a year before joining up with "Hookers Party" and settling Hartford, Connecticut in 1636. They were the original settlers of Hartford and there are monuments with the Lord family names.

Dorothy Lord's Will"In the Name of God Amen, I Dorothy Lord of Hartford in the colony of Connecticutt in New England, Being stricken in yeares, &at present laboring under some bodyly weaknesses; Though through the mercy of God, I at present haue ye use of my understanding and memorye, yet I know not how suddenly the Lord may put an end unto my fewe dayes in this life, and therefore according to my duty I am willing soe to setle and disspose of that little estate the Lord hath lent me, that peace may be continued amongst my children when I am gathered to my fathers, and In order therunto I doe declare this as followeth to be my last will and Testament. First that all my just debt be pd out of my estate.

I doe giue and Bequeath my now dwelling house and Barne and my Home lott and my lower lott in the North meadow unto the children of my son Thomas Lord deceased, at the age of 18 years and if any decease before they attayne that age the suruiuor or suruiuors to posses it, and if they all dye then my son William or his children to possess what is giuen to them.

"Itt: I giue unto my daughter Amy Gilbert and her children Three Acres of Meadow or Swamp in my upper lott in the Long meadow next to that Mrs. Olcott hath now in possesion,

"Itt I giue unto my son Robt: Lord (If he live after my decease so long as to have Notice of this my will) Three Acres of my upper lott adjoyneing to that which I haue giuen my Daughter Gilbert.

"Itt I giue unto my son William Lord and his heires foreuer Two Acres in my great lott in the long Meadow next adjoyneing to that which I haue giuen my son Robert.

"Itt I giue unto my son John Lord Tenn pounds in Currant pay of the country.

"Itt Whereas my Grandson Richard: Lord hath disbursed seuerall sums of money or country pay for the Building my vhimneys and shingling my house and repayres about it, I doe for the payment of him, giue grant and confirme unto him and his heires foreuer: all that my meadow lott in the long meadow which abutts upon the great Riuer east the little river west Mr. Westwoods land North and Barth Barnards land south.

"I doe also giue and bequeath undo my sd Grandson Richard Lord and his heires foreuer all the remaynder of my upper lott in the long meadow, which I haue not given to my sons Robert and son William; and my daughter Gilbert and her children, he payeing this legacie hereafter exprest, to my sonn John Tenn pounds. And in case my sonn Robt: shall depart this life before he hath noticed of my last will, Then that Three Acres of Land giuen to him shall be diuided Between my Son William and my Grandson Richard Lord, I doe allso confirme unto my Grandson: Richard Lord and his heires all my wood land that is all ready layd out or to be layed unto me wth in the Bounds of Hartford.

"I giue my moueable estate and Cattell to my son William Lord and my Grandson Richard Lord my daughter Stanton my daughter Gilbert and the children ofmy daughter Ingersall, the whole to be divided into fiue partes, and my daughter Ingersalls children to have one part, and the rest of them, earch of them one part.

"I giue unto the wife of Nocholas Clarke Tenn shillings.

"I doe ordayn and consitite my son William and my grandson Richard: my executores, and disire my louing Friend Mr. John Allyn to be ouere seer of this my will, and for the confirmation herof I have hereunto sett my hand this 8th of Febuary: 1669:

After the general distribution by the Will, a supplimentary disposal of special articles was ordered by Dorothy Lord, as follows, in abstract:

To Richard Lord's wife her iron dripping-pan and great pewter pi-plate; to Richard Lord, Jr. her great brass pot. To Mrs. Haynes one pair of her best sheets, two napkins, a pewter pie-plate (the smaller one) and a pewter candle-stick. To her daughter Stanton her great brass pan and her great Bible. To her son William Lord "my Siluer drinking-Bowle" and her great brass kettle. To her daughter Gilbert her smaller brass pan, a brass skimmer, a brass chafing dish and two "Joynt- Stooles." To Elizabeth Gilbert a great pewter platter. To her widowed daughter Lord (widow of Thomas) the bed she lay on, a feather bolster and a brass skillet. To Dorothy Phelps her coverlet, a feather pillow and a "beere" (pillow-case). To Margery Ingersoll a white blanket and a pillow. To Hannah Kelsy her hood, scarf and hat, a great white chest, a feather-bed, two blankets, a bolster, two pillows, two pair of curtains and curtain rods, a brass candle-stick and all her earthen ware. To the children of her son Thomas all teh fire utensils in her house, a table, "forme" and chairs. To Mary Lord Jr. (daughter of her son Thomas) her bedset. To Margery Ingersoll 20 shillings; to her sister Dorothy Ingersoll 20 shillings- if remaining after all her debts and funeral expenses are paid.

These articles were inverntoried at L187.17.8 The large number of brass and pewter article, the linen, curtains, etc. select for these special gifts, indicated a handsome style of living for the time.Dorothy Bird Lord sealed her will with arms of "Lord alias Laward" family (Argent on a fess gules between three cinquefoils azure, a hind passant between two pheons or). The crest on the seal is a demi-hind issuant, and not a demi-bird with wings expanded as givin on the Salisbury Chart, and this is confirmed by the statement of the Committee on Heraldry in the New England Genealogical Register, Vol. 86 (1932) page 270.found on ancestry.com

BiographyBefore she even left England, Dorathy Lord could credit herself with great accomplishment in that she had 8 surviving children in an age when infant mortality was a constant threat. And by the end of her life in 1675, she could take credit for achieving - at age 87 - a life span remarkable even now, 400 years later, with advanced health care, medical technology and comfortable living conditions. Much more so then, having spent the last 40 years of her life on the American frontier. She spent the first half of her life in Towcester, being born there in May of 1588.

We might know as little of Dorathy as we do of her husband, who she outlived by at least a quarter century, except for her will written in February 1669 (new date 1670). She is mentioned only once in the Colonial records prior to her death, and that in May of 1663, the reading of which suggests her husband is already dead by then. Certainly the Court was not expecting Dorathy, at 75 years of age, to go fix the fences herself, as "rail-splitting" for the common "snake" or "worm" fences used in periods of initial settlement was heavy labor, even for grown men But the fact that the court is addressing this issue to Dorathy, not her husband, proves that Thomas, Sr. was deceased by this date. Some 19th century sources claim he "died early "But clearly Dorathy outlived him by a number of years.

Tragically, by living to 1675, Dorathy also outlived her two oldest sons, Richard who died in 1662 and Thomas, Jr. who died in 1667. She also outlived her two youngest sons - John, who died c. 1668 and Robert who died c. 1673. She names her eldest living son William, and her grandson by her deceased son Richard, also named Richard, as executors of her will, confirming her husband Thomas, her eldest son Richard and her next oldest son Thomas, Jr. were all dead by late winter of 1669-1670.

As each of her children had their own heirs, we may assume that the properties described in her will of 1669-70 were those also of her husband, Thomas Lord, Sr., and passed directly to her as his survivor, although one early source suggests Thomas died intestate and what Dorathy describes is only her "widow's share". We have no way of knowing. The properties she does describe included:

"...my now dwelling house and Barn, and my Home lott..."

Left to the children of her late son Thomas, Jr. and presumed to be the house lot assigned to her husband in 1636.

"...my lower lott in the North meadow..."

Also left to the children of her late son Thomas, Jr.

"Three acres of Meadow or swamp in my uper lott in the long meadow next to that Mrs. Olcott hath now in possession."

Left to her daughter Amy, now married to Corporal John Gilbert.

"Three acres of my upper lott adjoyneing to that which I have given my daughter Gilbert."

Left to her son Robert.

"Two acres in my Great lott in the long meadow next adjoyneing to that which I have given my son Robert."

Left to her son William.

At this point Dorathy has split her "upper lott" into three 3-acre parcels, and she leaves the remainder of that property (acreage unknown but probably not less than 3 acres) to her grandson, Richard. as well as an apparently large parcel of meadow between the Connecticut River and Little River (see map here). And to her grandson Richard she also leaves an area of "wood land that is allready layd out or to be layd unto me within the Bounds of Hartford." (See complete text below.)

Clearly, her grandson Richard was a favorite of hers. She lavished property on him and appointed him executor of her estate. But that was not merely because he was first born of her first born Richard, who had died six years earlier. Richard Lord, Jr. was one of the leading figures in Colonial Connecticut at that time, as the histories record. His name appears frequently in the Colonial Records in legal matters of all kinds, listed often as a supervisor of wills in the 1650s, and was clearly seen as one of the leaders of the Colony. found on ancestry.com

From the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of HartfordThomas Lord, smith, embarked April 19, 1635, in the “Elizabeth and Ann,” at London, aged 50, with wife Dorothy, aged 46.-Children: Thomas (l6), Ann (14), William (12), John (10), Robert (9), Aymie (6), Dorothy (4), in same ship with Clement Chaplin, William Swayne, and others. He was an original proprietor at Hartford, and his homelot in 1639 was on the highway on the bank of the Little River, now Wells St. He married about 1610, Dorothy. The time of his death is unknown. Mrs. Dorothy Lord died in 1676, aged 87. Her will, executed February 8, 1669-70, is sealed with the above coat of arms.

Children:

i. Richard, born about 1611.

ii. Thomas, born 1619.

iii. Ann, born 1621; married Thomas Stanton, of Hartford, afterward THE Lord ARMS. of Stonington, about 1637; died in 1688.

iv. William, born 1623; removed to that part of ancient Saybrook now called Lyme; married; died May 17, 1678.

v. John, born 1625; married (1) Rebecca, daughter of Francis Bushnell, of Guilford, who died before 1647; (2) May 15, 1648, Adrean Basey, of Hartford, probably a sister of John Baysey; he abandoned his wife, and in September, 1651, the General Court ordered the Townsmen of Hartford to require of John Lord the wearing apparel of his wife and a bed "for her to lodge on." He probably had fled to Virginia; Porter (p. 11) prints a letter, dated at Apomatixe (Appomattox), February 20, 1663-4, from him to his nephew, Richard Lord, promising to pay his debts if the next season was favorable to tobacco. October 17, 1648, John Lord, Taylor, was bound over to good behavior, his brother, Thomas Lord, giving bonds for him.

vi. Robert, born 1627; he was a sea-captain, supposed to have been living in 1670, and to have died abroad after that year univ.

vii. Amy, born 1629; married May 6, 1647, John Gilbert (q. v.), of Hartford; died January 8, 1691.